That’s a wrap
That’s all for today’s live blog, here’s what happened to round out the long weekend:
Energy minister Chris Bowen said he wouldn’t comment on Donald Trump’s expletive-laden social media posts about Iran, but maintained Australia would like to see the strait of Hormuz open for the “best interest of the world economy”.
Petrol prices have fallen nearly 32 cents in a week after the federal and state governments cut the fuel excise tax. Diesel prices have only fallen 12 cents, however, as wholesale costs surge.
The BoM is tracking a tropical cyclone in the Solomon Sea that could move towards the Queensland coast later in the week. It’s currently a category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 km/h.
Sydney barrister Dr Ruth Higgins SC will be the country’s next solicitor general, the first woman to serve as the nation’s second law officer.
That’s all for now, see you tomorrow!
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Cruise ship caught on reef off tiny Fiji island where Cast Away filmed
Salvage crews in Fiji are working to prevent an oil spill after a cruise ship ran aground off the island on which the 2000 Tom Hanks film Cast Away was filmed.
The Blue Lagoon Cruises vessel Fiji Princess grounded at a reef near the uninhabited Monuriki Island on Saturday, according to Fiji’s maritime rescue agency.
All 30 passengers and 17 of its 31 crew were taken off the vessel the same day. There have been no injuries reported.
The company has been contacted for comment.
Read more here:
Higgins hailed for ‘experience, ability and acumen’
Higgins has been involved in several high court cases, including appearing on behalf of the Human Rights Law Centre and Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law in the landmark NZYQ case in 2023 that overturned two decades of precedent by finding that immigration detention was unlawful.
Her five-year term starts on 8 June.
Rowland said in a statement:
I congratulate Dr Higgins on her appointment as Australia’s 12th solicitor general – the first woman to be appointed to this vitally important position.
The second law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia plays a significant role in promoting the integrity of the rule of law and trust in government and public institutions.
Dr Higgins’ experience, ability and acumen will see the commonwealth well represented in significant legal matters, and I have every confidence in her ability to undertake this important work.
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Ruth Higgins SC named Australia’s next solicitor general
Sydney-based barrister Dr Ruth Higgins SC will be appointed Australia’s next solicitor general, making her the first woman to serve as the nation’s second law officer.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, made the announcement on Monday afternoon almost four months after Stephen Donaghue KC resigned from the position to take up a spot on the Victorian court of appeal.
A barrister with more than 30 years of legal experience, including almost 10 as senior counsel, Higgins is the immediate past president of the NSW Bar Association who practises competition law, constitutional law, class actions, energy, media, corporate criminal law and corporations law.
Her appointment comes as the commonwealth prepares to defend a high court challenge against the under-16s social media ban.
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Used EV prices rise as Australia’s fuel crisis hits
When a used vehicle rolls into a car yard, the usual trajectory for its price tag is down if it lingers too long.
That is the (almost) iron law of the secondhand market – until the oil crisis hit and dealers started raising asking prices for used electric vehicles.
Perth-based MotorMetrics’ live analysis of vehicle inventory shows that secondhand dealers have repriced a variety of used EVs, with Tesla’s Model Y up more than 6% in the last two weeks of March. The Tesla Model 3, MG4 and Polestar 2, which are all electric, have also risen.
Meanwhile, several types of used diesel and petrol vehicles have had their sticker prices dramatically cut, in some cases by up to 20%.
Read more here:
Native animals affected by cyclone to be given a helping hand
Native animals caught in the destruction from a tropical cyclone will receive much-needed care as a mobile wildlife hospital heads into the disaster zone, AAP reports.
Hundreds of turtle hatchlings, dolphins, sea birds, sea snakes and reptiles washed up on the shores of Western Australia after Tropical Cyclone Narelle slammed into the state’s north-west in late March.
The storm peaked as a category four near the coastal town of Exmouth, about 900km north of Perth, with gusts in excess of 250km/h and torrential rain.
On Monday, a 24-tonne mobile veterinary hospital operated by Wildlife Recovery Australia will arrive in Exmouth to care for those left behind.
The veterinary team will work with WA Wildlife, the Balu Blue Foundation, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and local volunteers to tend to kangaroos, dingoes, wallabies, sea birds, turtles, and even an emu with a broken toe.
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Housing market slows over long weekend
The share of homes successfully sold at auction last week hit its lowest point in years, preliminary data suggests.
The national auction clearance rate for the week ending on Sunday 5 April fell to just 55.5%, preliminary Cotality data shows.
The preliminary rate had been just 60.9% the previous week, finalised to 52.7%, the lowest rate since December 2022, when home prices were slumping as interest rates rose.
With preliminary rates often falling once finalised, last week’s rate may end up being one of the lowest rates since the pandemic broke out in 2020.
Sydney and Melbourne saw their house price downturn pick up over the week, with the three-monthly fall in home values hitting 0.3% and 0.7% respectively, up from 0.2% and 0.6% a week ago.
Brisbane’s price growth also slowed, with quarterly growth slipping to 4.8%, from 5.1%. Perth and Adelaide held steady.
However, data may not be wholly representative as vendors and buyers took the long weekend off. There were just 694 auctions in Australia’s capitals, with Cotality tracking 622 of those. There had been 3,983 the week prior.
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Allegedly stolen Mercedes driven into Hermes store in Brisbane ram raid
Queensland police are investigating an alleged break and enter after an allegedly stolen Mercedes was driven into an Hermes store in Brisbane this morning.
Officials said they were called to the storefront on Edward Street just after 3am amid reports an SUV had deliberately driven into the front of the business.
Police allege three offenders loaded items from the store into a second vehicle before the trio jumped in a third vehicle, both of which left the scene. The Mercedes was left at the store and is undergoing forensic examination.
Police have urged anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage, or any information, to contact them. Investigations are ongoing.
Diesel prices fall just 12 cents in a week as wholesale cost surges
Diesel prices have resumed their steady climb, threatening to return to 310 cents a litre and eating into government tax relief.
The halving of the fuel excise last week cut retail petrol prices by 26.3 cents a litre then another 5.7 cents. Diesel prices, however, fell by less than 20 cents for the first cut and kept rising after the second cut was delivered.
Diesel had been sitting around 320 cents a litre on average in most capitals last Monday and fell almost to 300 cents a litre by Thursday. It then started rising again and is today sitting at about 308 cents a litre on average in most capitals.
It doesn’t look like price gouging by service stations. The wholesale price of diesel at the terminal fell last Wednesday and Thursday then started rising again, according to the Australian Institute of Petroleum. The wholesale petrol price is still falling.
Petrol prices fall nearly 32 cents in a week
Petrol prices have now fallen at least 31 cents in every capital city over the last week, as retailers rush to pass on state and federal governments’ 32-cent fuel tax cut.
After a month where petrol prices rose nearly 100 cents in some cities, the federal government decided to cut tax by 26.3 cents last Monday. The states agreed to give up an extra 5.7 cents’ worth on Thursday by foregoing some GST revenue on fuel.
That 32 cents has now been fully passed on to motorists in Australia’s cities, with service stations trimming the 5.7 cents off their retail prices, as shown by today’s average unleaded petrol prices on Motormouth:
Sydney is at 226.3 cents, down 31.6 cents from last Monday;
Melbourne at 225.8 cents, down 33.6 cents;
Brisbane at 226.8 cents, down 32.4;
Perth at 222.9 cents, down 32.9;
Adelaide at 224.1 cents, down 35.4;
Hobart is at 226.1 cents, down 31.7;
Canberra at 223.9 cents, down 34.9;
Darwin at 229.5 cents, down 34.7.
You can read about where that extra 5.7 cent discount came from here:
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Artemis II astronauts approaching far side of the moon
Astronauts on the historic Artemis II mission are expected to reach the far side of the moon later on Monday, venturing deeper into space than any humans before.
Nasa has reported satisfaction with progress toward the lunar fly-round since the team’s launch on Wednesday, with the three Americans and one Canadian on course to break the record for maximum range from Earth just as a total solar eclipse awaits.
“The Earth is quite small, and the moon is definitely getting bigger,” the pilot Victor Glover reported after Artemis fired a key thruster to exit Earth’s orbit.
The crew are the first astronauts bound for the moon in more than half a century, picking up where the Apollo programme left off in 1972.
Read more here:
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Watch American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson win her Stawell Gift heat
The Paris Olympic 100m silver medallist started from scratch but powered past the field with ease.
Organisations say social media giants are taking down posts meant to warn about harmful substances in party drugs
Warnings about potential harmful substances circulating as party drugs are being taken down by social media companies Meta and TikTok, advocates say.
AAP reports a number of organisations have reported the same issue of posts being taken down and their users being blocked or banned. The advocacy group Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League is urging Australia’s eSafety commissioner to step in.
In one instance, a warning about strong MDMA and nitazenes – a synthetically produced opioid more potent than fentanyl – was removed three days before a major summer festival and an appeal to have the post reinstated was rejected.
Other flagged posts by Meta include harm-reduction advice to prevent accidental overdoses, including warnings about “double-strength” MDMA, and recommendations to reduce dosage if testing isn’t available.
Meta and TikTok have been approached for comment.
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More on Bowen’s fuel comments this morning, with reserves in ‘pretty good’ condition
As we reported earlier, the energy minister, Chris Bowen, spoke to RN Breakfast this morning about the state of the nation’s fuel supply.
The minister said 3.7bn litres of different types of fuel are on their way to Australia this month. Bowen said the country’s fuel reserves remained “pretty good”, despite ongoing issues with transport through the strait of Hormuz.
He said Australia had 39 days worth of petrol in reserve, 29 days of diesel and 29 days of jet fuel.
“That’s pretty flat, that’s been pretty consistent all the way through,” Bowen added.
BoM tracking tropical cyclone in Solomon Sea that could move towards Queensland coast
A tropical cyclone in the Solomon Sea could move closer to the Queensland coast later this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology is tracking severe tropical cyclone Maila, which is now a category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 km/h and gusts of up to 165 km/h.
The storm is now expected to be slow moving through the middle of the week in the region, before it’s forecast to head south-west. It’s not expected to directly affect the Queensland coast before the middle of the week, but may move closer to north Queensland afterwards.
Updated
Long weekend sees spate of road fatalities across Australia
The Easter long weekend was marred by a string of road fatalities across the country, with many involving motorcyclists, AAP reports.
In the latest incident, police found a car crashed into an embankment after leaving the road in the NSW upper Hunter area on Sunday night. Paramedics attempted to treat a man but he died at the scene.
A few hours earlier, emergency services were called to South West Rocks on the NSW mid-north coast on Sunday afternoon. They found a motorbike rider had crashed on the road before becoming trapped under a nearby vehicle. The rider died at the scene.
The same day, in far north Queensland, a 31-year-old man lost control of his quad bike on a local road in East Palmerston, a rural farming area near Innisfail, on Saturday. His green Kawasaki bike struck a pole and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
More than 1,336 people have died on Australia’s roads in the 12 months to February, according to the federal government figures, marking a 4.4% increase from the same time the previous year.
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TGA opens public comment period on improved sunscreen regulations
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is asking for public comment on a proposal to improve the regulation of sunscreens in Australia.
The agency said interested parties have until 23 May to comment on a range of options, including improving the reliability and transparency of SPF testing and simpler labels on sunscreens. The TGA said:
These proposals are intended to strengthen confidence in sunscreen performance. If accepted, options presented in this paper would be implemented in a proportionate and targeted manner, with appropriate transition periods incorporated. …
Given Australia has the highest rates of skin cancer and melanoma in the world, with around 2,000 people dying each year, it is critical that the regulatory settings are appropriate to ensure consumer confidence in sunscreens.
Bowen says Australian fuel supplies ‘OK’ through April and into May
Bowen said he’s been encouraged by how fuel retailers have passed on cuts to the fuel excise.
He told RN Breakfast:
We’re encouraged by how quickly that’s been passed on. Obviously, the ACCC is monitoring closely any particular service stations or suppliers that might not do the right thing. I’ll leave them to comment on their own actions and independent activities.
Bowen added that Australia’s fuel supplies were “OK” through the end of April and into May, saying orders were “locked in”.
Bowen won’t comment on Trump’s Iran tirade but agrees strait of Hormuz should re-open
Chris Bowen, the minister for climate change and energy, said he wouldn’t comment on US president Donald Trump’s expletive-laden social media posts, but noted Australia, too, wanted the strait of Hormuz to reopen.
Bowen was asked about Trump’s remarks, where the president called on Iran to let ship through the strait while threatening further attacks on Iranian infrastructure. Bowen told RN Breakfast this morning:
Well, for the last 10 years, I haven’t made a habit of commenting on every social media comment of president Trump, and I don’t intend to start now because we’d all keep ourselves very busy. We want to see the strait of Hormuz open.
When pressed if that level of retort from Trump warranted a comment from the Australian government, Bowen added:
We are not participants in this war. We didn’t participate in the decision to begin the war, but we are, like many like-minded countries, calling for it to end in the best interest of the people of the Middle East, obviously, but also in the best interest of the world economy.
Read more here:
Updated
Moira Deeming endorsed for top spot on Victorian Liberal ticket
An outspoken state Liberal MP, who was previously ejected from her party, has made a shock comeback after winning a bruising internal battle, AAP reports.
Moira Deeming secured endorsement for the top spot on the party’s Victorian upper-house ticket for the Western Metropolitan Region after the other candidates withdrew from the running.
She previously dropped her candidacy after the party overlooked her for businessman and Indian community leader Dinesh Gourisetty, who garnered support from the party’s moderate wing.
But he was forced to step aside after it was revealed he previously provided a character reference for a now-convicted child sexual abuse offender, triggering another preselection contest.
Deeming was the only eligible nominee remaining for the position.
On Sunday, she thanked everyone who had supported her – including state Liberal leader Jess Wilson – adding she looked forward to exposing “Labor’s callous betrayal of hard-working families” ahead of the November election:
When we win, I will work tirelessly to restore good governance to this great state of Victoria.
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Good morning
Good morning, and happy Monday. Nick Visser here to take you through the day’s news. Let’s dive in.
